Should you be reporting your Waste Packaging Usage for 2018?
As another year rolls by, we’ve reached that time again – waste packaging reporting.
The regulations were first introduced in 1997 and aim to control the amount of packaging waste produced by UK businesses and its impact on the environment.
As the environmental debate continues, this year seems a little more poignant than most.
If your company produces, uses or sells packaging products you might be legally required to report your packaging usage under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations.
January is always a good time to take stock of the previous year’s activity and set plans for improvements in the year ahead. Assessing your waste packaging use is a great foot forward to helping you define and reach your carbon reduction programme.
So even if you are not legally obliged to submit them, it’s always a good idea to have a handle on your packaging use with a view to identifying how you can reduce the volume of packaging you use.
Who is legally obliged to report their packaging waste?
Any company (or a group of companies) that handles 50 tonnes or more of packaging or packaging materials in a calendar year and has a turnover of over £2 million based on last year’s accounts.
What you should do if you’re affected
If you are obliged to report your packaging waste, you must register as a packaging producer (or be registered with your environmental regulator) by 7th April each year. You will have to show you meet your recovery and recycling obligations and obtain evidence of compliance.
You will then have to submit your certificate of compliance by 31st January the following year.
How Macfarlane Packaging can help you identify your usage
If you bought packaging from us in 2018, our sales teams can supply you with a packaging report for those products electronically or you can request a hard copy if you prefer. The information is broken down by purchase month, material composition and weight.
Customers signed up to Customer Connect are able to run their own reports, allowing them to track usage, weight and composition of all packaging products purchased from us at the click of a button.
How Macfarlane can help you reduce your carbon footprint
We can help you identify opportunities to reduce your packaging usage and maximise your transport operation.
Whether it be reducing the amount of material within your packaging or switching to a lighter, recycled (and recyclable) pack, or enabling you to load more items on a vehicle to reduce your fuel consumption, we can help you reduce the impact of your carbon footprint.
To obtain your waste packaging report, or find out more about our carbon footprint reduction services, get in touch.
